They Deserve A Chance
by shifty53
Summary: Sequel to We Stand Together, Zim knew that this happened because of him. Because he didn't catch tallest Red fast enough. That's why he stayed, so he could give the humans a chance at life. Dib and Tenn romance, and some ZATR.
1. Chapter 1

** HELL on Earth**

**I do not own Invader Zim**

**Zim POV**

It was all over now. I was living a happy life with Tak and our newborn smeet Zero. I didn't even have to wear my brilliant disguise anymore. I truly felt accepted. For awhile everything was perfect, but now . . . the humans were suffering, suffering because I didn't kill Red fast enough. In his last words he said something that filled me with fear for a race that didn't deserve this fate.

The humans seem to have become even more disgusting. They have lost their ability to speak, they will attack anything they see attempting to devour whatever it was they would attack. But there were some survivors. I felt like it was my duty to try and save whoever I could.

But first I had to get Tak and Zero away from this planet. It was too dangerous and I couldn't go on living without them. So I rushed Tak to the roof of my base and instructed her to leave with my voot runner.

"But Zim . . . what about you? You have to come with us." She begged. "Tak. I love you but I have to stay here to save the surviving humans, you see it's my fault this happened, Red told me as he died. It's because I didn't stop him in time. The humans shouldn't have to pay for this."

"Zim . . . please don't die . . . " she said with tears running down her face. Just then I hugged her, which turned into a passionate kiss. As she pulled away I whispered: "I won't die here. I promise." And then she left.

My plan here was to kill all infected humans and save any survivors. I departed from my base and proceeded to head down the damp road. I sure am glad I discovered paste to protect myself from the rain because it was pouring right now. I walked cautiously through the dark empty roads. They may have appeared empty but I knew better.

As I walked out of the corner of my sight I caught a rather familiar object flying towards me. I caught it and reacted as if nothing had happened at all. I looked down at the soft object I had just caught. "Ah yes, the pork cow." I said with a smile.

"Dib I know you're there. You might as well come out." Just then I saw Dib emerge from behind a few trash cans. "Zim? I thought you would have left by now, just like the rest of the Irkens here." He asked. "I'm still here because your people don't deserve this. It's my fault this happened. It's because I couldn't stop Red fast enough."

"Really Zim? You of all people would do that? Last I heard you hated us more than anything, why the change of heart?" asked Dib. "I still despise humans. They are disgusting, foul mouthed, selfish, greedy idiots who can't even take care of their own planet.

But they still deserve time to learn. Like we had . . ." I stated. Just then an infected human grabbed Dib and he yelled for help. I reached for my knife but before I could attack the zombie someone shot it.

Then I noticed a familiar female Irken jump down from a low rooftop. She walked out in front of me and saluted me. "Zim this is Irken Elite Tenn, at your service." She said. "Tenn you don't have to be so formal, I'm not the tallest, I'm still the same old Zim." I responded.

"Dib you have a weapon right?" I asked "Uh, no. That's why I was hiding." He responded. "I have an extra pistol he can use." Said Tenn. "Well uh . . . thanks." Said Dib awkwardly. "No problem. Besides, you seem nicer than the humans I've met." Said Tenn with a smile.

Now we all had weapons. Tenn and I both had Irken assault rifles (Elite class) while Dib had a pistol of the Elite class. At first I was worried about letting a human use Irken technology but to my surprise he was smart when it came to using the gun.

He still had much to learn about all of the guns different features. But he knew the basics and was smart about using it. We spent a few hours roaming the streets looking for any survivors but we found none and decided to head back to my base for shelter.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived was that my base had been picked apart and looted. All that was left was the metal frame of the house, the toilet, and the trash can. "Must have been survivors trying to get supplies from your base." Said Tenn.

I walked the trash can and stepped inside. I told Tenn and Dib to follow me. I was greeted by a very familiar voice when I reached the lower levels of my base. "Hi! I got some new friends! They came over today! They took all the stuff up top away. I had to come down here cause one of the scary people tried to eat my head."

Said Gir. "Is that why you have teeth marks in your head?" I asked pointing to the teeth marks on Gir's head. "Gir, do you know where those friends of yours were heading?" I asked. "Um, no." said Gir with sorrow in his voice.

"Hey. Where did Tenn and Dib go?" I said aloud. I looked around for them but I just could not find them. Faintly I could hear Tenn's voice. I silently walked towards the sound of her voice. I walked against the wall and very quickly I peeked out.

At first all I saw was Tenn talking to Dib. But they really seemed to enjoy talking to the other. Dib was being a little more awkward than usual, while Tenn was talking to him in a way that reminded me of Tak. Tenn was flirting with Dib.

At first I didn't think much of it, but I was rather shocked when I saw Tenn passionately kiss Dib. I tried to get my mind off that and get some sleep. But the next day Tenn decided to ask me a very difficult question.

"Hey Zim. I was wondering . . . since I noticed how much more freedom we have since you were put in charge, and I was wondering. Zim are we aloud to have uh close relationships with other races?" I nearly choked on my soda when I heard that last sentence.

"Tenn. When I had everyone remove their ES2 chips I was not just giving them emotions, I was giving them the freedom to explore who they really are.

If you have feelings for anyone whether he or she be Irken, or any other race out there, well that's just who you are. There is nothing wrong with exploring your personality. Besides, Dib isn't the worst human. But please be careful. Most humans will try and take advantage of you. But I highly doubt that Dib wouldn't do that if he really cares about you." I said.

"H-how did you know it was Dib?" she asked. "Well let's just say I went looking for you two at the wrong time. Also, if there's any human I trust, it's Dib. Which is strange because when I was working for the tallest we hated each other. Back then all I had to say about him was petty insults."

"I was really worried that you wouldn't be understanding. I don't know what to say." She responded. "Oh well then it's now considered treason to be with a human. Or any other race. I'll see to it that you're executed." I joked.

We both shared a laugh. "Okay okay, thank you." She responded once our laughing had ceased. "Never mind then." I responded. That whole joke was really just mocking the tallest. It felt good to be in charge. "Tenn go wake up Dib, we need to go look for more survivors." I said.

**Okay at about the part where they meet up with Tenn I think I may have fractured my left middle finger on my desk. (Getting an x-ray tomorrow.) So I apologize for any slight mistakes past that point. I wrote most of the rest of that with only my right hand. Hope you guys like the idea of DibxTenn romance. I know I do :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lost**

**I do not own Invader Zim**

**Zim POV**

For about a week we kept searching for survivors and trying to find a way to give them immunity to this virus. Then one day I found a recording from tallest Red, next to it was the key to saving the humans.

Red laughed at me in those recordings. He said that he knew that I would never do it. He said that the device next to the recording would set off a blast that would kill whoever was caught in it but the effects would kill all infected and all survivors would become immune.

He also said that only I could detonate it. I checked this and saw that the device was coded to my DNA. The recording also told about how sensitive the device was to tampering. So I brought it back to my base.

I thought it would be best if I didn't tell anyone. But I knew I had to at least call Tak. "Tak, I made you a promise before you left, but all my life I have been selfish. If there's anyone I want in charge when I'm gone it's you . . . I know you'll run our race well."

For some reason I couldn't get a good enough connection so that was just a recording. I felt so bad for her. But it was either keep my promise and doom a race that still has yet to grow, or do what I know is right.

At least I knew I would be remembered. So the next day I walked to the heart of the city. I turned around and looked up at the sky. "See you soon 387 . . ." And then I pressed the button. My only fear was for others. Besides that I had no fear.

**Unknown POV**

**1 month later**

I sat up and gasped for air. I had no idea where I was or who I was. I walked down into a laboratory that I didn't remember yet I was familiar with everything in it. I built myself a suit that would shield my face and deepen my voice.

I had no memory but I felt I had done something horrible. Then I saw a SIR unit broken on the ground. It's eyes were grey and lifeless. I felt sorry for it, I knew I had to repair it. As I went through the SIR unit's memory banks I noticed that much of its memory was gone.

Just like me, I thought. I also noticed some severe behavior glitches within the SIR unit's memory banks. I wanted to repair it all but for some reason I only fixed the SIR unit's combat functions. On my way out of that strange place I grabbed a pistol.

As soon as I saw this place all I could think was to leave. I carried the functional but offline SIR unit in my PAK. I kept running until I saw a human walking down the street. I grabbed him by the neck and started to yell at him.

"You! I need to leave this place! How can I get off this planet!" the human looked at me for a moment and then responded. "Wait, you're Irken. Oh then if you want to leave then you'll want to head to the Irken embassy. It's just down the road, that way." Said the human pointing a finger towards the embassy.

I threw him to the ground and ran to where his finger was pointing. After about five minutes I reached a building with a statue of a proud looking Irken in front of it, and the words Irken embassy on the front of the building.

I was planning on just rushing into the embassy and demanding a ride out of here but something pulled me towards that statue. The largest word on the statue was ZIM and below that a message. "In honor of Zim. May we never forget his actions." I felt a tear run down my face inside of my mask. Was this the horrible thing I did? Did I kill Zim? I pushed the thought aside and walked into the embassy.

"Ah you must be heading back to Irk for Zim's funeral. Too bad they never found a body. It must have been burned up in that explosion. Well anyways please present your name and we'll have you off Earth in no time!"

Said the Irken behind the front desk. "I don't know my name." I responded. He only laughed and said: No one leaves without an identity. For all we know you could be a human trying to sneak your way to our home planet. Go away human.

At that point I just snapped. I shocked him with the subdue system I installed into my suit. I leaped over the desk and walked out the back door to some sort of docking station. I ripped the pilot out of the nearest ship and flew off to start my new life . . .


End file.
